Yoke, collar, and cuff press



Jul -12, 1932. REEPs 1,867,174 YOKE, COLLAR, AND CUFF PRESS I Filed Jan. 2, 1950 6 Sheets-Sheet 1 7- m m/zrr Caries O fieebsupecl.

- July 12,1932. EE 1,867,174

I YOKELCOLLARQAND CUFF'PRESS- Filed Jan. 2.1930 s Shee ts-Sheet 2 July 12, 1932. REEPs 1,867,174

YOKE, COLLAR, AND CUFF PRESS Filed Jan. 2, 1.930 6 Sheets-Sheet 3 July'12,1932. E 1,867,174

'YoKE, COLLAR, AND CUFF PRESS Filed Jan. 2. 1930 6 Sheets-Sheet 4 i In ls III m R" fi Q O,

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July 12 1932. 3,0, REEPs 1,867,174

YOKE, COLLAR, AND CUFF PRESS Filed Jan. 2, 1950 's Sheets-Sheet e Patented July 12, 1932 UNITED STATES PATENT oFnca CHARLES O. BEETS, DECEASED, LATE F WAUKEGAN, ILLINOIS, BY HARRIETTE ESTELLE KEEPS, EXECUT'BIX, O3 WAUKEGAN, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO NATIONAL LAUNDRY MACHINERY COMPANY, INC; 0F SYRACUSE, NEW YORK, A (DEBORA TION OF DELAWARE roxn'cormn, m: cm PRESS Applicationflled January 2. mo. M51 110. 418,124.

This invention relates to ironin'g'presses designed particularly for ironing in one op-' eration the yoke, neck section and cuffs of sleeved wearing apparel, such as. barbers coats but of much the same construction as the press disclosed in the co-pendin application Serial No. 386,339 of Charles. Reeps filed August 16th, 1929. An important object of the invention is to provide individual buck elements, one formed and shaped to receive theyoke and neck section, and two other buck elements 4 for receiving, respectively, the wife of the garment, together with a single ironing head adapted to cooperate with all of the buck elements to simultaneously iron the garment parts thereon.

A'further object is to provide for subjecting the garment parts on the several buck elements to an aerating and drying treatment prior to the final pressure and ironing application of the ironing head thereto.

Another object is to provide padding on the buck elements, together with means for applyin heated air under pressure below the pad 'ngs to cause ballooning thereof, so that, when thev ironing head is brought into initial ironing cooperation with the garment parts, heated air will escape through the paddings and circulate through the garment parts to hasten the drying thereof prepara-' tory for final pressure application of the ironing head. The air under pressure, acting against the paddings, will cause the garment parts to be applied with uniform pressure against the ironing head, thus prevent-' ing flattening of seams, breaking of buttons, etc. A further object is to provide simple arrangement for circulatin air through the 1 various buck elements be ow the paddings thereon, and to heat the spaces belowv the paddings through which the air is circulated. Another object is to provide simple and of the ironing head, first to the position for aerating and drying of the garment and then for applying the final ironing pressure. 7 The a ove enumerated and other features of the invention will be fully understood effective means for controlling the movementfrom the following detailed description taken in connection with the drawings, on which drawings Figure 1 is a front elevation of the. buck structure and air ,flowsupplying and controlling parts, the supporting framework of the machine being shown in vertical section;

' Figure 2 is a vertical section of the entire machine taken on line Il -II of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a front elevation of the upper 6 part of the machine with the buck structure in vertical cross-section;

Figure 4 is an enlarged front elevation of the buck structure and the ironing head in engagement with the ballooned'paddings for the aerating and drying treatment;

Figure 5 is a section on plane V-V of Fi re 4; i f

igure dis a plan view of the buck structure with the paddings removed;

Figure 7 is an enlarged section on plane, VII-VII of Figure 6 Figure 8 is an enlarged section on plane VIII -VIII of Figure 6; Figure 9 is aside elevation showingthe ironing head in aerating cooperation with the buck structure paddings';

Figure 10 is a diagrammatic view showing, the various mechanisms and airflowcontrolling valves for the operation of the ironing so head and Figure 11 illustrates the arrangement of a garment on the buck elements.

The machine shown comprises the supporting framework 10 having the top wall 11 with 35 the opening 12 therein. Seated on' the wall 11 and depending through the opening '12 is the pedestal or base 13 whichsupports the middle buck element A having the lateral arms 14 and 15 supporting at their ends the buckv elements Band C. The buck element A is of a form and shape to conform to and receive the yoke and neck section of garments, such as barbers coats,

andthe buck elements B and C are substantially rectangular and of a 'size' to receive the wife of the garmentto be ironed.v

channel 18 running'along the periphery of the body, a plate 19 covering the chamber and channel and having, perforations 20 commu-.

nicating with thechamber and perforations 21 communicating with the channel. Extending across the plate 19 is a padding D comprlsing several layers 22 of suitable fabrics, the outer layer being preferably a fabric such as muslin. The ends of the padding are secured against the sides of the buck head body by a suitable band or clamp 23.

The buck or chamber 24 surrounded by a peripheral channel 25, a plate 26 covering the chamber and channel and having perforations 27 com municating with te chamber and perforations 28 communicating with the'channel.

.A pad E is applied over the its ends secured to the buck sides by a suitable band or clamp 29.

The buck element C is similar to the buck element B and has the central chamber 30 surrounded by the peripheral channel 31, a plate 32 covering the channel and chamber and having perforations 33 communicating with the chamber and perforations 34 communicating with the channel. A pad ,F ex tends across the plate and has its sides secured by a suitable band or clam 35.

. The pedestal or supporting ase for the body of the buck element A has the angular partition wall 36 forming the air distributmg space 37 and the air return space 38.

Through the bottom wall of the pedestal are a the front and rear openings 39 and 40, re-

spective'ly, connected by bushings or sleeves 41 and 42, with the outlet 43 and the intake 44 respectively of a blower 45 suspended from the top wall 11 withinthe framework 10. The air distributing cates directly with the "air chamber 17 of the buck element A. The arms 14 and 15 are hollow and have intermediate partitions 46' and 47, respectively. The partition 46 5 forms with the side walls of the arm 14 the passageways 48 and 49, while the partition 47 of arm 15 forms with the side walls of the arms the passageways 50 and 51. At their in;-

ner ends, the passageways 49 and 51 communicate with the air distributing space 37 and .thus with the blower outlet, the passageways at their outer ends leading res ectively to the chambers 24 and 30 of the uck elev mentsBandC. w

Theair return s ace 38 communicates directly with the per1pheral channel 18 of the buck element A and with the channels 25 and 31 of the buck elements B and C, respectively, through the passageways 48 and 50. The

channels of all of the buck elements are con-' nected with the intake end of the blower for the return of air therefrom to the blower.

The'ironingchead 52 is of a size to simulelement B has the central space plate and has space 37 communi central air chambers of the buck elements are taneouslyefigage 'th all three buck elements A and is carried by a supporting frame comrising the arms 53 and 54 connected together I y a crossbeam 55. The arms receive a. shaft 56 journalled in lugs 57 of the framework 10 so that the ironing head supporting frame may swing to raise the head away from the buck elements, as shown in Figure 3, or to bring the head into ironing cooperation with Y the buck elements, as shown in Figures 2and 4. The ironing head is resiliently supported, the arms having fulcrum lugs 58 engaging in fulcrum ooves 59 on the head, studs 60 extending om the head and receiving compression springs 61, which abut against the arms and the washers 63, the degree of pressure being adjustable by the nuts. 62. The

ironing headmay be coveredwith heat insulatmg material 64 and is hollow for the reception of steam piping 65 for heating the head, the piping belng connected by leads 66 and 67 with steam supply terminals 68 and 69 by means of binge couplings 70 and 71,

the terminals '68 and 69 being concentric with the axis of the hinge shaft 56. branch steam circuit 72 and 73 connects with the heating pipe coil 74 within the chamber 17 of the buck element A, and with the heating coils 75 and 76 within the chambers 24 and 30 of the buck elements B and C, respectively, the air circulating through such chambers being'thus heated.

The motor 78 which drives the blower 45 is supplied with current through a cable 79 under control of a suitable switch 80, shown in Figure 2 as a mercury switch. The switch is mounted on a bracket 81 supported on the framework 10 and is pivoted thereto at 82 and has a lever 83 extending therefrom with a counterweight 84 thereon. An arm 85 extends from the rear end of the supporting frame for the ironifig head, and, when the supporting frame isswung to bring the ironing head into ironing cooperation with the buck elements, this arm 85 will raise the counterweight 84 and cause tilting of the switch bulb, so that the mercury therein will will operate. When the supporting frame is swung to raise the ironing head away from the buck structure, the arm 85 is withdrawn from below the counterweight and the switch isrotated back to normal position to cause disconnection of the motor circuit and, therefore, stopping of the blower.

The rear end of'the ironing head support -ing frame carries a shaft or pm '86 for receiving the upper endof the tog 1e link 87, this link being adjustable longitu mally by means of a turnbuckle screw '88. At its lower end .this upper togglelink is hinged to the upper end of a lower toggle link 89 which at its lower end is anchored to the framework 10 by a pin 90. Hinged at its rear end tothe framewsrk 10- by a pin 91 is a frame'92 which at close the circuit for. the motor and the blower weight tending to swing the frame to raise the ironing head away from the ironing buck structure.

For controlling the operation of the toggle mechanism and thereby the swinging movement of the ironing head supporting frame, there is showna pneumatic system with the parts more or less diagrammatically illustrated, but the system is substantially the same as that fully disclosed in a co-pending application, Serial-No. 386,339, filed August 16, 1929. The system comprises a cylinder structure G havin a head 96 from which the cylinder 97 exten s rearwardly and the cyl inder 98 extends forwardly. The iston 99 within the cylinder 97 is connecte by connecting rod 100 with the lower toggle link 89. Thepiston 101 in the cylinder 98 has its connecting rod 102 hinge anchored to a bracket 103 secured to the front wall of the machine framework 10. The various valve structures for controllin the flow of air under pressure to the cylinder structure and other pneumatic devices are mounted within a housing 104 sup orted onthe front'of the machine framewor 10, with the valve levers projecting for manual manipulation by the operator of the machine. The valve 105 controls the fluid flow for causing the cylinder structure G to actuate the toggle mechanism to swing the ironing head to its aeratin cooperation with the ballooned paddings o the buck elements. The valve is normally closed, its stem being in the path of a bell-crank lever 106 for manipulation by the o erator. A valve structure 107 controls the ow of fluid under pressure to the cylinder structure G to cause operation of the toggle mechanism to swing the ironing head into final or ironingpressure engagement with the buck, structure. The valve may be a rotary valve controllable by its lever 108 and the valve is normally closed. A relief valve 109 is provided for relieving the pneumatically oper- 'ated devices ofjliealr under pressure so that the ironing. head may be returned to normal position by the weight 93. This valve is normallyclosed to atmosphere but may be opened by the engagement therewith of the cam 110 on the lever 111, the stem 112 of the valve being in the path of the cam sothat when the lever is depressed, the valve will be opened.

, The relief valve 109 may also be automatically opened at the termination of a predetermined time interval subsequent to the opening of the valve 107. Such automatic opening is accomplished by means of a timing cylinder 113 having the piston 114 whose rod 115 has engagement with a link 116 connected to the end of the arm 117 extending from the shaft 118 to which the manual lever 111 is secured. A valve 119 is also provided which is normally open to connect air under pressure with-the cylinder 97 in front of the piss ton 99 when air under the same pressure is admitted into the cylinder behind the piston. This valve is normally open so that, when l the operator opens the valve 105 for the flow of air under pressure, she must use her other hand to close the valve 119 to prevent the flow of air to the cylinder 97 in front of the piston. A spring 120 acting against the actuating lever 121 for the valve 119 normally holds the lever in pressure engagement against the valve stem 122 to keep the valve open, the valve being spring actuated, so that, when the lever 121 is depressed, the valve will close itself.

Air under pressure is supplied fromasuitable reservoir 123 which is connected through a hand valve 124 with a four-way distributing coupling 125." A branch 126 from this coupling leads through a hand valve 127 and a pressure reducing valve 128 to the controlling valve 105 whose outlet connects with the pipe 129 leading to the valve 119.' The pipe 129 includes a hand valve 130, and a tap 131 from this pipe leads to the reliefvalve 109. A pipe 132 extends from the feed pipe 129 and communicates through port 133 with the cylinder 97 behind the piston 99. The outlet of valve 119 is connected by pipe 134 with the outer end of the cylinder 9 The branch pipe 135 extends from the distributing coupling 125,to the controlling 1 valve 107 and includes a reducing valve 136,

this reducing valve-and thereducing valve- 128 in the branch 126 being relatively adjusted so that the air flowing throughthe branch 135 will be of greater pressure than that of the air flowing through the branch 126. The outlet of the controllin valve 107 is connected by piping 137 with t e cylinder 98 behind the piston 101 by way of the port 138 in the cylinderhead 96. A cross pipe 139 is connected between the pipes 132 and 137, includes a check valve 140 and a reducing valve 141, the check valve preventin from the pi ing'132 to the piping 13 ,but permitting ow in the opposite direction.

,A pipe 142 extends from the piping 137 to the bottom of the timing cylinder 113 through a reducing valve 143, a check valve 144 brid ing the reducing. valve and preventing ow from the pipe 142 into the cylinder 113 but permitting flow in the opposite direction. At its outer end the cylinder 97 has a restricted vent 145 and at its outer end the cylinder 113'has the vent 146.

Describing now the operation of the machine, the operator with one hand depresses the lever 106 to open the valve,105 and, at the same time, with her other hand depresses the lever 121 to close the valve 119 to relieve vthe pressure from in front of the piston 99 of the toggle mechanism to the dotted. line position shown in Figure 2 to thereby cause swlng of the ironing head 49t0fcarry the ironing head into the aerating and drying position relative to the buck structure, it being remembered that, as soon as the ironing head is swung downwardly, the switch 80 is tilted to connect the motor in circuit for driving the blower. The aerating position is shown in Figures 4 and 9, the heated air deliveredunder pressure into the various buck element heating chambers raising or ballooning the respective paddings so that the garment parts which were laid on the buck elements will be applied with uniform pressure against the heated ironing head, the

' hot dry air escaping through the more or less porous padding circulating through the garment parts to effect aeration and quick drying thereof. As" illustrated in Figure 11, .the yoke and neck section of a shirt to be ironed are spread in proper alignment on the padding of the buck element A and the-cuffs are spread out on the buck elements B and C, such ap lication of the garment parts to be ironed a'ving been performed efore the valves were operated to bring down the heated ironing head. During such downward movement of the heated ironing head, the operator, as has been explained, has both hands. busy; manipulating the controlling valves 105 and 119, so that it will be impossible for her to geta hand between any of the buck elements and the hot ironing head.

After the ironing head has been brought down for the aerating operation the operator may release the valves 105 and 119, the air" under pressure confined within the cylinder 97 then holding the piston out to maintain the position of the ironing head. The operator now opens the valve 107 for the passage of air under higher pressure through thepip- I ing 137 and into the cylinder 98 infront of the piston'101.

.As this piston is anchored, the air under pressure will cause the entire cylinder structure G to be shifted rearwardly, thus further deflecting thetoggle mechanism and increasing the pressure. of the ironing head onthe brick elements. Such bodily. movement of the cylinder structure is communicated to the piston 99 through the air under lower pressure confined in the cylinder 97, and, as a re- 'sul of the increased pressure of the ironing head against the buck elements, the piston 99.

may la However,-as soon as the high pressure va ve pressure will gradually flov through the reducing valve 141 in the cross pipe 139 and into the cylinder 97 and, as the the piston 99, and the piston is shifted outwardly to cause deflection gradually rise in the cylinder,

107 is opened, air under the higher rought.

up to cylinder 97 and the toggle mechanism will be shifted outwardly'to cause the. application of the final ironing pressure by the ironing head against the garment parts on the ballooned paddings of the buck elements, and

' the parts will then be given a final pressure that within the cylinder 98, the piston 99 will be returned to the outer endv of the flattening or scorching of seams and breaking of buttons or other injuries.

When the high pressure valve 107. was closed, air under the higher pressure also flowed through the pipe 142,into the timing cylinder 113. 'The" piston 114 will then and by way of the piston rod 115 and the link 116, the arm 117 will be swung to carry the camend 110 against the stem of the relief valve 109 to open this valve to atmosphere. By adjustmentof the reducing valve 143, the time of operation of the cylinder structure 113 may be readily and accurately gauged. Upon opening of the relief valve the cylinder 97 is relieved of air under pressure through pipe 132,"pipe 129 and the relief valve, while the cylinder 99 is relieved through the pipe 137, cross piping 139, check valve 140 and piping 129 throu h the relief valve. The cylinder structure I and its pistons are then free to return to normal position, and the toggle mechanism is collapsed by the weight 93 and will swing the ironing head supporting frame to raise theironing head back into its uppernormal position. The timing cylinder 113 relieves through the c eck valve 144, piping 142, eross piplng 139, piping 129 and relief valve 109; and its. piston returns to normal position ,htthe bottom of the cylinder, and the weight of the arm 117 of the link 116 will swing the shaft 118 and the lever 111 to release the cam projection 110 from the stem of the relief valve, and, as this valve isspring actuated, it will then close itself.

' The operator may at any time open the relief valve by manual depression of the lever 111. For example, the aeration treatment ,may be enough for certain articles, and then, ,instead of opening the valve 127, the operator will open the relief valveto permit retraction of the toggle mechanism and swing of'the ironing head from aerating position back to its normal position. Also, instead of waiting for the timing cylinder 113 to be- 7 come effective, the operator may open the relief valve after only a short period ofapplication of the final pressure by the ironing head. To permit manual operation of the relief valve, the link 116 is preferably adapted for movement relative to the piston rod .115. shown, the link is tubular,-and the piston rod normally extends a short distance therein. Then, when the piston rod reaches ently of the piston rod 115. At the end of the machine operation the operator will see that the lever 111 is in raised position so that the relief valve will be closed.

' The operator may also desire to open the relief valve at a time when both hands are busy. For this purpose, a connection 147 is provided from the distributing coupling 125 to the bottom of the timing cylinder 113 through a valve 148 which is normally closed but which the operator can readily open by depressing the treadle structure 149. When the valve 148 is opened, air will flow directly from the reservoir 23 into the timing cylinder 113 and the piston 141 will be quickly raised to effect quick opening of the relief valve and relief of the cylinder and return of the various parts to their normal positions.

The buck elements A, B and C, the connecting arms 14 and 15, and the supporting base 13 may all be part ofan integral casting.

The structure may be detachably secured as by means of screws 150 and, in order to strengthen the support of the buck elements B and C, brackets or shelves 151 and 152 may be'provided therefor and secured to the supporting frame-work 10, as clearly shown in Figures 1 and 3. When, it is desired to use the machine for other special purposes or for general ironing, the three sectioned buck structure can be readily removed and other buck structures mounted on the machine. I

Changes and modifications in the structure, arrangement and operation may be made without departing from the scope and principles of the invention, and it is not, therefore, desired to be limited to the particular structure, arrangement and operation shown and described except as will be necessitated by the prior art.

What is claimed is 1. In an ironing machine of the class described, the combination'of a supporting framework, a buck structure comprising a base mounted on said framework, arms extending laterally 5011 said base, a buck head on said base, a buck head at the end of each of said arms, me s forming an inner and an outer chamber i n each of said buck heads,

said base havinginle't and outlet passages heads at the ends of said arms, the chambers in each buck head being open at the top, padding on each buck head spanning over the open ends of the chambers therein, an air circulating device havin its inlet and outlet connected respectively with the outlet and inlet passageways through said base whereby upon-operation of said device air under pressure will be circulated. simultaneously through the chambers in said buck heads and the padding on each of .said buck heads will be subjected to the pressure of the circulating air to be raised or ballooned for receiving article parts to be ironed, and an ironing head movable to engage said ballooned paddings and article parts thereon.

2. In an ironing machine, the combination of a supporting framework, a unitary buck structure mounted on said framework and comprisinga plurality of buck heads separated from each other for receiving separate parts of an article to be ironed, padding on each buck head, each buck head having an inner air space and a surroundin outer air space below and open to the pa ding, passageways through the buck structure connecting the inner spaces of the heads together and passageways through the buck structure connecting the outer passageways of the buck heads together, an air circulating device connected with said passageways to cause circulation of air under pressure therethrough and therethrough cdmmunicating with the inner,

and outer chambers respectively of the buck head on said base, there being passageways through said arms connecting the inner and outer chambers of said base buck head with the inner and outer chambers of the buck 

